Gamerz Heaven II
by Inuyasha loves sake
Summary: AU. What happens when Envy finds a new video game? FMA GH crossover, no spoilers. BL in later chapters, longer summary inside. HIATUS, NOT DISCONTINUED.
1. ch1

**A/N:** WHEEE This is a crossover! Crossovers are fun! I wonder wonder what category it should really be in though, ya know cause it's a crossover...the title gives it away right there for one, Gamerz Heaven by Maki Murakami, and the other one is...Hagaren! That uber-cool show about alchemy and those poor orphen boys (and SEXY PALMTREES) by Hiromu Arakawa.

**Summary:** This is AU for the HnR/FMA part and is _supposed_ to be setpost-series for Gamerz Heaven, but I'M MAKING UP AN ENDING FOR GAMERZ HEAVEN BECAUSE I'VE ONLY READ THE FIRST BOOK SO PLEASE DO NOT CRITICIZE and needless to say there's no spoilers for either. Rated for swearing; mild (shounen ai) pairings in later chapters. GUESS WHICH ONES! ;D

**DISCLAIMER:** No ownies the Gamerz Heaven and Fullmetal Alchemist, they belong to...uh...various...other people...ifies I owneded the Gamerz Heaven I'd make double Natas! Yeah...; And ifies I owneded the Hagaren I would not- uh, wait, that's a spoiler... Hehe...;; Um...oh yeah...I'm also stealing various lines out of the first book...I don't own those either...

**WARNINGS:** Pretty much just rated for swearing. There's character death; maybe a little angsty, depends where your feelings lie.

_aeaeae_

The reflection of Kita-ku was broken and utterly destroyed after the defeat of the final boss. The unstable realm is slowly dissolving and it's time for the players to part from this mirror world for good.

The designated 'Navigator' for the game lay amongst the rubble, fading too. Kaito ran to his side, Kyoko close behind. "Nata...!"

The childlike NPC spoke softly, looking up at Kaito with tearful eyes, "...you must destroy Gamerz Heaven...so this won't happen again..."

Kyoko put a hand to her mouth to stifle her own cries. "No! I can't do that!" Kaito shouted, "Nata!"

"Kaito...please..." he choked back a sob as he weakly opened the gate, "...I don't want anything to happen to you...please, go...and don't look back..."

"NO! NATA!"

_aeaeae_

"Danmit," Kaito banged his fist on the floor. Scrambling towards his PlayStation again, he exclaims, "Argh! We have to go back!"

"No! Kaito!" Kyoko grabs him around the waist and pulls him backwards before he can turn it on. "It's no use! I'll miss Nata too, but...he's just a character in the game! It's not like we can bring him to our world or something! And we can't very well go into the game whenever we want...or do you WANT to do that whole save the world thing AGAIN and maybe have MORE people disappear?"

Kaito stopped in his struggle to get to the console and bowed his head, "...yeah, I know. I just...I'm gonna miss him..."

"I know," she replied, wrapping her arms around him in comfort, "me too."

Not knowing what to do with Gamerz Heaven now that they'd beaten it and shouldn't play it any more, Kaito actually found himself considering Nata's request. Destroy the game...?

The next day, Kyoko met up with Kaito and they took a walk together down to some nameless park. In the depths of the rather large park was a stream that emptied out into a river a few miles down.

"I just can't do it," Kaito whispered, "I can't break it. At least this way...I could hope to see Nata again. Maybe..." Kyoko put an arm around him again as he tossed the disc into the water and watched it drift away. "Man..." more sniffles, "I haven't felt this bad since Rio and Ren died..." (**1**)

"I know what you mean..."

_aeaeae_

ONE WEEK LATER

Envy sat at the edge of the dock going out to the river a few lots away from his house. It was a dreadfully boring day, even though his best friend Edward came all the way from the city to visit him at his house in the middle of the woods. He had a fishing rod in the water, but there was no way the fish were biting today. Ed sat in a tree overlooking the river and was idly picking at leaves, mercilessly tearing them to tiny bits and grinning slightly at the destruction.

Envy watched the blonde out of the corner of his eye as he boredly picked at the rotting wooden planks beneath him. "Dude, you're scaring me."

"Why?"

"Because you're acting like me."

His grin widened, "Thanks."

"Riiight..." Envy moved his gaze back to the water. He yawned, kicking his feet and making small splashes in the water, when something shiny caught his eye. A glint in the river. There was something being carried by the water.

"Hey...what's that?"

"What's what?"

Envy leaned over the edge of the pier so he could grab the object when it drifted by. "'Gamerz Heaven'?"

"What? What is it?" Ed called.

"...It's a disc. Floating in the river."

"Huh?" Ed jumped down from his perch in the tree right next to Envy. He bent lower to get a better look, "Think it's a music CD or something?"

"I think it's a video game. You have a PlayStation, don't you? Let's try it out." (**2**)

"No way." Ed straightened, now looking down at Envy. "It's wet, and you don't know where else it's been! I'm not risking ruining my game system."

"Pansy."

"It's called being careful."

"It's called being a pansy," Envy shot back. He stuck it into a pocket of his black cargo pants and stood, brushing the dirt off of his clothes, "My brother's got one hidden away somewhere, I think. We'll just use that one."

"What makes you think it's even for a PlayStation? What if it's an X-Box, or some other new model?" The shorter one asked as they made their way through tall grass and bushes back to Envy's house.

"Guess we'll find out when we try it."

_aeaeae_

"And we just connect this here..." Envy muttered, reaching behind the television and messing with some cables and plugs to hook up the PlayStation, with Edward sitting on the floor and out of his way.

"I'm surprised you can even hook up a game system with all that old junk..." Ed muttered.

"It's not junk! So what if I don't have the latest technology, it still works!" He sat up straight, "There! All plugged in!"

"Yeah, only took a friggin' hour..."

"What was that?"

"Nothin'."

Wrath sat on the couch behind Ed, curled up and reading a book. Without once looking up from the pages, he shifted his attention to the bickering pair and said, "He called you slow."

Envy smacked the blonde upside the head before plopping down beside him and switching on the power to the game console.

"Thanks alot, Wrath," Ed mumbled sourly, rubbing the back of his head and tossing a glare at the younger dark-haired boy.

"Mm-hm," he answered disinterested, going back to being absorbed in his book.

Envy nudged Edward to bring his attention back to the game, "Look look, it's almost done loading."

_aeaeae_

Hidden somewhere in the rubble of Kita-ku's broken reflection, Nata slowly blinked awake. The first thought that came to him was how long had it been since he'd seen Kaito? But then the reason for his awaking dawned on him. "...someone's accessing...!" he stared up at the black sky as the gate was being summoned, "...Kaito...?"

_aeaeae_

Envy and Edward stared at the screen as loading reached one-hundred percent and a young child _fzt_-ed onto the screen. In a robotic voice, it said, "_No data save found. Do you wish to start a new game_? _To begin press O, to end press X_."

They each blipped yes.

"_Welcome to Gamerz Heaven. My name is Nata and I am the navigator assigned to guide you through the world of this game. There are two active controllers- Please enter your names_."

A few more blips for their names.

"_Your names have been entered. Do you really wish to begin the game_?"

Blip yes.

"_This game is a beta release. Unforeseen bugs may occur. Do you still wish to continue_?"

Double-blip yes.

"_Well then, we are ready to begin the game. Please wait_."

Envy and Edward blinked at the black screen. "...this is weird. What kinda game do you think it is?"

"Dunno."

_aeaeae_

Wrath furrowed his brow, closed his book and asked, "Hey, nii-chan, what does- huh?" He frantically surveyed the room for any movement. "Envy? Where'd you go?"

_aeaeae_

"...nothing's happening," Ed stated.

"Damn!" Envy fell backwards, "What a jip!" He flicked his gaze to the couch. "...hey, Wrath's gone."

"Huh? Probably went upstairs when we weren't looking."

"I guess..." Envy sighed and sat back up. "The game's no good, I'll just toss-" he stopped, blinking.

Ed gave him a funny look, "What?"

"Th-the PlayStation's gone! What the f-ck?"

Ed jumped up, "That's not possible! But we- we had the controllers in our hands! No one could've come and just taken it!"

"Aw man, Greed's gonna kill me!"

"_Damn right I'm gonna kill ya, brat_."

Ed and Envy spun around to see Greed standing at the foot of the the stairs.

"Is it just me..." Ed choked out, "...or does Greed have _wings_?"

Envy just shook his head slowly, staring wide-eyed ahead of him.

The winged Greed took a step nearer the boys and more so demanded than questioned, "_Where is the Navigator_?"

In response the boys took a step back, "The _what_?"

"Don't play dumb with me! _Where have you hidden the Navigator_?"

It was about the time Greed put his foot through the television that the boys turned and bolt out the door, calling back, "We _really_ don't know what you're talking about!"

Greed chased Envy and Edward out the front door and around the corner of the house into the woods. The palmtree-headed one could easily blend in with the trees, and the other...well, he was short enough to hide in a bush, making it difficult for the larger and now-winged Greed to find them. What else to do but _blow everything up_? (**3**)

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" was the creepy laugh that echoed through the emptiness. All the trees on that side of the house for miles were gone, and a crater twice the size of the house lay in the middle of it. The boys sat stunned in the short grassy field and probably would have ended up dying if it weren't for...

"You have to defeat the monster."

"_EH_?"

Nata motioned his head toward Greed who was still acting very Kimbley-like, "Check your inventory for weapons and slay the monster."

"HEY YOU'RE THE KID IN THE TV!"

"SHUT UP, YOU'RE YELLING IN MY EAR!"

"BITE ME, PALMTREE-HEADED FREAK! WE'RE ALMOST _KILLED_ AND YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT _YELLING_?"

"...Kaito and Kyoko got along better than this..."

"FUCK YOU, MIDGET!"

"WELL-"

"...you two should really slay the monster now...uh, guys...?"

"-OH YEAH!"

"YEAH!"

"Guys!"

"_WHAT_?"

"He's uh, coming towards us?"

The two froze and looked in the direction Nata indicated, "...shit!"

Greed stalked towards them almost robotically, chanting, "_Navigator...bring me the navigator_..."

Edward hid behind Nata. It was funny because he was actually short enough to. "What is this thing he keeps saying about a navigator?"

Nata tried to turn and look at the older boy, though difficult, as he answered him, "That is me. In this game, the monsters are always after the 'navigator'. The player's objective is to prevent monsters from using me to enter the Second Zone, by any means necessary. If you are successful, you have beaten the game. Currently, you need to defeat this monster to proceed any further."

"Wait..." Envy said deliberately, "...you mean to say we're INSIDE the game?"

Nod.

YUP, it's a good thing video game Greed is taking his time walking over there.

Ed looked up at Envy, "...what do _you_ think?"

"I..." Envy looked Ed in the eyes, then grinned devilishly, "I always wanted to beat up Greed."

_aeaeae_

"Eenvyy!" Wrath called. He was upstairs now, still looking for his older brother. Passing his mother's open door, he asked, "Uh, mom? Have you seen Envy?"

Dante (a/n: so what, dante is their mother, shut up) sat at her desk with an open book to the side and was writing something. In a bored tone she told him, "No, not today."

Wrath shrugged his shoulders and continued his search elsewhere.

_aeaeae_

Armed with whatever weapons they could find, the teenage boys fought with the ferocity of a newborn kitten. Really they were just having fun with this; Greed, despite his appearance, was quite easy to take down. After a while of beating him to a pulp, they finished him off and stopped a minute to take in their surroundings.

"It's really hard to believe this is a video game. I mean, it looks _just_ like your yard!"

"Yeah, but, what else could it be? There's no way the Greed I know, no matter how much of an ass he is at times, can sprout wings and blow up stuff. It's just a really good game."

"Either that or a really good hallucination," Ed lay down next to Envy's prone form to stare at the clear sky, that to him just seemed a little too real.

"Hey, kid...whatever your name is," Envy rolled his head to one side to look at Nata, "You said something about a 'second zone' or whatever and about the monsters getting you...what was all that?"

"The Navigator is the gate between this world and the Second Zone. The monsters in the game try to get a hold of the navigator to gain access to the Second Zone."

Ed looked over too, "Yeah but, what's a second zone?"

Nata stared for a moment as if trying to remember something, "Kaito called it something else...it was the...the...the Real World."

"THE REAL!"

"I think that's what he-"

"YOU MEAN MONSTERS UNLEASHED IN THE REAL WORLD? AS IN _THE REAL WORLD_?"

"...yes. But you needn't worry about that as long as you keep them away from me."

Nervous laughs all around. "...well then...no need to worry...? Heheh...;;"

"...sooo," Envy drawled after a long period of silence, "How do we get out of here? _Can_ we even get out of here?"

Nata gave a nod, "If you wish to save, I could transfer you back to the Sec- er, the Real World. But I should warn you, there is a limit to the number of saves...do you wish to save?"

"Um...sure?"

"Saving data...please wait..." Nata closed his eyes and then the sky turned black.

_aeaeae_

"...'the hell just happened?"

"We...are we back?"

"Think so."

Envy looked around. They were back in his house, the PlayStation lying on the floor right where they'd left it. He sighed in relief. "That was friggin' awesome! I gotta tell Greed he was a monster in a video game that looked like our house!"

"He's not gonna believe you..."

"Hey Wrath!" Envy shouted as said kid came down the staircase.

"Where have you been, I've been looking all over for you, you just up and disappeared on me!" he scolded the older boy first.

"Uhh...somewhere. Hey, have you heard from Greed? Is he gonna be home anytime soon? I wanna tell him something!"

Envy's enthusiasm received a strange look from Wrath, "...who is 'Greed'?"

"You're joking, right?" Wrath shook his head. "Our brother, Greed."

"I don't know what you've been smoking, but you're my only brother."

"Oh, c'mon! There- that PlayStation over there is his."

"What are you talking about? That's _your_ PlayStation, nii-chan."

Envy's eyes lit up, "Really? Wait- no, that's not- I'll just go look for him elsewhere if you're gonna be stupid, Wrath."

Envy swung the front door open and stepped out into the afternoon sun...and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the hell happened to the TV?" was a cry that came from inside the house, though Envy ignored it as he could do nothing but stare at the landscape before him. That bare, crater-filled landscape.

_aeaeae_

**1** - Rio and Ren don't actually die (I don't think), that was just for this story. I don't like them so they be gone now.

**2** - I don't really know for sure if it's a PlayStation that Kaito plays Gamerz Heaven on because I don't think they ever say, but it _looks_ like one from what I could see.

**3** - Sounds too much like Kimbley. ;; I didn't mean it to.


	2. ch2

"Envy, what's going on?" Wrath asked, slightly frightened. He had seen the yard.

Said boy moved aside a few strands of emerald-tinted black as he worked, plugging the PlayStation into the television upstairs. "First we're sucked into a video game that looks like the house, then we have a fight to the death with Greed who no longer exists, and the yard is a mess as if the fight was _here_! But it _was_ here! But then again, it couldn't be! There's no way we could naturally do all the things we did in that fight! Either way Greed is gone and _WE_ killed him!" he sat back and switched on the power, "I'm getting some answers outta that little blue-haired punk!"

"I wanna go with you guys!" Wrath piped up, "I wanna know what's going on!"

Ed and Envy looked at each other. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt...?" They plugged in another controller for Wrath just as the disc finished loading.

"_There is an active controller connected to slot three. Do you wish to add a member to your party_?"

Blip.

"_New member, please enter your name_."

Blip-blip-blip-blip-blip.

"_Your name has been recorded. Do you wish to load saved data_?"

Blip.

"_Loading data_..."

_aeaeae_

"I'm sure nii-san will be happy to hear you're letting us stay longer, Uncle Roy," Alphonse smiled at the dark-haired man driving the car. (**1**)

"Yes, well, I have a date tonight I could use an opportunity to get rid of you boys." That might have sounded like an insult to anyone else, but Al knew from That Smirk and the look he gave him that Roy was joking. About getting rid of them, that is. Not the date part. Everyone knew Roy was a chick-magnet (a/n: -cough-manwhore-cough-). "I'll come back to get you tomorrow afternoon."

"Alright." Al turned to look out the window, still smiling. Just like Ed and Envy were good friends, Wrath was one of Al's best friends that he didn't get to see very often, considering he lived so far away and Uncle Roy was always either busy with work or something else to take him for a visit. Everyone else knew Ms. De Clare was too wrapped up in research-type things to be involved in her children's lives. (**2**)

Al was ecstatic; he was going to spend the next two days with Wrath, and his mother wouldn't care because she probably wouldn't come out of her room the whole time anyway. It was almost creepy; most times Al had been there he'd never seen her, and the small chances he did weren't enough for him to even picture her face in his head. But she did seem nice enough whenever he did come face to face with her, and the children never much complained, so he figured it was alright.

The car took a sharp turn as the dirt road started twisting around large oak trees, that gave Al a start and jarred him from his thoughts. He threw his questioning look at the driver.

"Damn, forgot about that," Roy muttered, to himself more than the blonde boy beside him, "These winding roads are hell on my car."

"Sorry," Al said quietly, "that I made you come out here."

Roy gave him a look, "You've nothing to apologize for. You deserve to visit your friend, I just wish I could've brought you and Edward at the same time and not..."

As the car came into view of the house, it became VERY apparent something had happened since Roy dropped off Ed that morning. Lack of trees and a new crater hole, for example.

The two slowly got out of the car and gaped at what they saw. "What the _hell_ happened _here_?"

_aeaeae_

"_Wow_..." Wrath nearly whispered, "You mean we're _inside_ the game? It looks just like home!"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Ed added.

"Nata!" Envy called out, "Nata, you little twerp, get out here!"

He spotted a blur of colors down by the pier across the field, and ran towards it, "Nata!"

"Hello Envy," the child said in an almost depressed tone. Envy was going to comment on it, but remembered what he was there for. "Why-!"

"This place," Nata interrupted instead, "It's so beautiful..."

"Eh?" Envy blinked dumbly for a minute until he shugged it off, grabbed him by the front of his complicated-looking coat thing and demanded, "Tell me what happened to Greed! Why does Wrath not remember him...and why does it look like a meteor hit my yard!"

"Whatever happens in the game happens in the Sec- Real World. If there's an enemy that you slay here, their other self in the Real World disappears."

"Wait, does that mean that everyone has another self in the game? Could we meet our other selves?" Wrath asked, sneaking up behind them.

Nata shook his head, "There's only one of each person in this world. As long as you're playing, you're the only _you_ here." (**3**)

"Then if I stopped playing, there'd be another me in my place?"

Nod.

"Freaky..."

"_And_ it means that this game is dangerous!" Envy interjected, "When we go back I'm tossing this disc! But first, tell us how to get Greed back!"

Nata gave him a strange look, "You can't just _bring _a monster _back_."

"What, there's some stupid quest we have to go on first?"

"No- you _can't_ bring a monster back."

Envy's eyes widened, "Then...Greed..."

_aeaeae_

"Hello? Nii-san? Wrath? Envy? Anyone?"

"The house looks deserted," Roy commented, closing the front door behind him and Al.

Al ran over towards the staircase, "I'll check upstairs."

Roy nodded his head as Al ascended to the wooden cabin's second story, "I guess I'll go look outside again." Outside, he took a walk around the yard once more and stood in front of the crater. "How the _hell_...?"

"Nii-san?" Al called, as he climbed to the top. The first door on his right was open and noises could be heard from the room, such as pages turning and pen scratching. "Ms. De Clare?"

Dante continued to write without acknowledging him.

Al tried again, "Ms. De Clare? Do you know where your sons are, or my brother?"

"Haven't seen them, child," she said curtly. She continued to write.

Al nodded in response, even though she couldn't see him. He figured she wouldn't know anyway. She probably had no idea that anything happened outside, either.

_aeaeae_

Ed, Envy, Wrath, and Nata all sat at the edge of the dock, doing...nothing really. Shock, depression, and confusion has temporarily consumed them. Envy was the most out of it. Because he had found this disc in the river and insisted to play it, his brother was gone and now they were all in danger of the same fate. That is, unless they 'beat the game'. But where to begin? He didn't even completely understand the situation. Nata is a gate to the real world, so just keep the monsters away from him. But how do you beat it? You can't possibly kill off all the monsters or everyone in the real world would be dead too. And the NPC made it sound like the game has been played before...didn't he mention someone's name?

"Nata."

Nata jumped, "Yes, Envy?"

Envy stared hard into his eyes, "You said this game had been beaten before, didn't you? By some guy named...uh..."

The child perked at that, "Kaito?"

"Yeah. How did he do it? Without killing everyone, I mean."

"You don't need to destroy all the monsters. Specific area bosses are your designated enemies. Merely defeat them and you are successful."

"Was Greed a designated area boss?" Ed asked quietly.

Nata nodded to him, "Yes. Area Master Greed was to be the first of your opponents."

"I see," Envy looked back at the water again and stared at his own expressionless face, "Then it couldn't be helped, could it? We had to beat him..."

Wrath went over and hugged Envy, "I'm sorry."

Envy just shook his head sadly.

Nata was about to say something to him but stopped. He swiftly turned to face the field where there was a shadow approaching them. "Envy. Edward. Wrath," he said quietly, "The next area boss is here."

The three players turned around and hastily drew weapons. They shielded their eyes at the bright evening sun, trying to make out the identity of their newest enemy.

While the two siblings still couldn't recognize the silhouette, Edward dropped his weapon with a dull thud on the dock, eyes wide in disbelief.

"...Uncle Roy?"

_aeaeae_

**1** - Oh goody, it's Uncle Roy. By the way, his car is a Mustang. X)

**2** - That _is_ Dante's last name, isn't it? Or one of her incarnations, at least. Wasn't one of her more recent identities Victoria de Clare or something? That's the only name I know for her other than Elric...but that'd be confusing with Ed and all so that's Dante's name from now on!

**3**- I'm not positively sure that's true, but hey it's my story and I'll lie if I want to.

**A/N:** YOSH! Cliffy! It's short, but, whatever. Gets the job done.

Side note: I was thinking of making Envy's parents Dante and Hohenheim, and then Ed's parents could be Roy and Riza or something- maybe make Winry his sister- but that's just weird. I mean, could you picture it? Edward Mustang. XD So to avoid the confusion of where he should be put, I just killed off Hohenheim altogether. Ed and Al are orphans under the care of their uncle Roy, while Envy and his siblings just have a (kind and semi-caring yet neglectful) mom. Also, Envy's only siblings are Wrath and Lust, not to mention for a short time Greed. I killed off Gluttony and Pride for obvious reasons, and I got rid of Sloth for nearly the same reason as Hohenheim; if I gave the Elric brothers their mom, then where is Sloth? Or if I had Sloth, why can't Trisha be alive? And I can't very well have them BOTH...so then neither. Lust is Envy and Wrath's sister but she's studying abroad or something. She exists but isn't there.


	3. ch3

"Al, I think I found something!"

Al came out of the house with a big smile on his face, "_You_ found something? There's _brownies_ in the fridge! Yum."

"Alphonse..."

"Sorry. What'd you find?"

"Well," Roy looked out towards the pier (which was north of the house and not west- the way of the blast- so there were lots of trees and things to hide it), "for a split second I thought I saw Ed over by the river but, he's gone now. Think they're playing some type of hide and seek?"

"I dunno," Al replied, "But, I did see someone left the PlayStation on in Envy's room. I don't think they'd just up and leave it for something like Hide-and-Seek. Though, the screen was black...maybe they didn't realize it was still on and went to play something else? I didn't touch it, just in case." He cringed inwardly, thinking of what happened the last time he touched something he wasn't supposed to.

"Maybe," Roy thought a moment, then looked back at Al, "Well, you have three options. We could continue to look for them, or I could go home and leave you here to look, or I could take you back home since we can't find anyone."

Al paused, "...no, you go. You have plans. I'll stay here and wait, they're bound to come back. Besides, if worse comes to worse I can call you to come back and pick me up, and Ms. De Clare is home too."

Roy nodded, "Alright. Unless I hear otherwise, I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow afternoon."

"Right. Bye!" Al waved happily as Roy headed towards his fiery-red Mustang convertible. Yes, Ed would come back and everything would be right again.

_aeaeae_

"No no no, this can't be happening!" Ed exclaimed, covering his head and dropping to his knees, "It's a horrible horrible dream!"

"Ed..."

"Roy can't be our enemy! Tell me this isn't happening!" He started to cry, falling closer to the ground, "Tell me we don't have to destroy him..."

There was a silence of all but the shaky sobs for a few moments until a small voice said, "...technically, you don't have to _kill_ the area bosses to beat them...as long as they cannot fight back it's considered a victory."

Envy looked at Nata thoughtfully, "'As long as they can't fight back'... I've got it! Our selves in here are directly linked to our real selves, that means they're one and the same. Ed, you know Roy better than any of us here, does he have some sort of weakness?"

"Tch," Ed sneered, "only for pretty girls in miniskirts." _Wait..._ Ed stares at Envy. Envy blinks back. "What?"

"I have an idea..."

_aeaeae_

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Hold still, damn it!"

"No, you can't make me!" Envy shrieked, "I'm not wearing that!"

Ed sighed and handed the miniskirt to Nata, who in turn studied it curiously. "But you're the only one who can. You _are_ very pretty..."

Glare.

"...and your voice _is_ kinda girly..."

"You take that back!"

"Look, what I'm trying to say is," suddenly he threw himself at the taller boy, "PLEEEAAASE DO IT ENVY! I WONT EVER ASK FOR ANYTHING ELSE! PLEEEEEAAAAASE!"

"Uhhh," back awaaay from the midget. Far away.

"If Envy wearing this will stop Area Master Roy, then I don't see any other option," Nata deliberated, "Other than, of course, the default way."

Shudder, "No! No default way! C'mon Eeeenvyyy pweeeeeeaaaase!"

"Uhhh..."

Ed, still latched onto the front of Envy's shirt, looked up at him with big watery pleading eyes and Envy sighed defeatedly.

"...I...I guess..."

_aeaeae_

"NO I change my mind I don't wanna!"

"C'mon, Envy, you're already wearing it!"

"I know, and I don't like it! It feels _weird_!"

The blonde pounced on the taller one again when he tried to get away, "Look, you're going to be doing this awesomely huge favor for everybody and save the world, so be a man and go flirt with my uncle!"

Envy almost choked. "That was wrong on so many levels."

"...sorry, just go," he pushed his friend forward and he stumbled a few feet, then regained his balance. During the some hour or so it had taken to find a miniskirt in this video game world, convince Envy to wear it and then go hit on Roy, said designated area boss spent the entire time admiring his own reflection in the river and saying stuff like "hey there handsome" and other such frightful things.

"U-um..." Envy stuttered as he took _tiny_ steps toward Roy, his face beat red. He REALLY didn't want to do this.

The other three were watching with more than a little amusement. "Aw man, I wish I had a camera. This is great stuff!"

"Bet I could go find one."

"Guys? I think we should be looking for a way to..."

"Yeah! Blackmail!"

"...disable the area boss?" Nata sighed when they continued to ignore him and heatedly ramble on about blackmail and such frivolous things. /_Hopeless people...none of them a good a gamer as Kaito_.../

_aeaeae_

Alphonse sat at the kitchen table. He was very, very bored. "Niiiiiiii-saaaaaan...where ARE you?" He got up and slowly made his way around the house for lack of something to do. He plopped on the couch, even lay on the floor for a bit, ransacked the fridge, and then finally made his way back up the stairs and into Envy's room. He flopped lazily onto the bed when he noticed the PlayStation again. Only this time the screen wasn't blank, but it wasn't exactly a picture Al could recognize.

"The game's still on. I wonder what could have been so important they just up and left it. I hope they didn't get kidnapped or anything," he chuckled at the thought. "Oh well. I really have got nothing else to do until they come back...they can't get mad if I play a _little_."

Al maneuvered himself onto the floor and picked up the first controller. "It's looks like all three of them were playing." He tried pushing buttons on the controller to see if anything would happen. Nothing. He tried the other controllers. Nothing. "It can't be the controllers are broken. But, I've tried everything else I could think of..." He grabbed the fourth controller and plugged it in.

_fzt-_ "_There's an active controller connected to slot four_..."

_aeaeae_

"...what? Someone else is accessing..."

Ed glanced at the small boy, "Huh? You say something, Nata?"

Wrath nudged him, "Look look, Envy's got Roy's attention."

"What? Wait, where'd they go?"

"Over there, see?" The younger boy motioned to a spot a little south of the river. He and Ed moved closer.

"So how are we gonna get him?" Wrath whispered.

The blonde beside him smiled evilly and pulled out a baseball bat, "With this. Hopefully the Envy distraction will work. I'm pretty sure it will, but just in case we could also distract him with Nata since they all seem to..." he trailed off as it seemed to him there was a head missing. "Hey, now where'd Nata go?"

"I dunn-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" _SLAM!_

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

"YOU'RE ASKING ME?"

"IT LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING FELL FROM THE SKY!" (**1**)

"...guys! You'd better take a look at this," Envy called. He was gesturing towards something, but from three's vantage point (the navigator had suddenly reappeared again) none of them could make out what it was. Upon further inspection, they found Roy had already been taken care of. Something had indeed fell from the sky, and it was...

"Alphonse!"

"It seems we have a new player."

That caught Ed's attention, "Player? You mean he's real?"

Nata nodded affirmation as the younger blonde slowly got to his knees, "...owie...my head..."

"Oh! Here, let me help you!" The older blonde exclaimed as he pulled his brother up with some help from Wrath. Envy and Nata stood to the side because Envy was still trying to hide his skirt-wearing-ness and Nata just didn't know these people plus he doesn't seem to be very social.

"...Nii-san?"

"Yeah, it's me. How did you know we were here?"

"And where is 'here'? Last I checked I was in the house...ack!" Al gasped when he noticed what had broken his fall, "Uncle Roy? But what- I mean..."

Ed raised a hand to stop him and shook his head, "It's a very long story."

Wrath popped up, "Not really. Why don't we watch the tape?"

"Tape?" everyone else chorus, blinking.

"Yeah," the younger dark haired boy rolled out a television on one of those cart things you might see at school, switched the power and pushed play on the remote for the VCR he had just pulled from his pants pocket.

"See, this is Nii-chan and Ed finding the game in the river..."

"Where the hell did he get this?"

"Look look! They were sucked in, but I didn't know it at first...they came back trying to convince me we used to have a brother named Greed..."

"What the-"

"...then I joined them, where we found out Roy was our next boss dude, so we made a plan to have Envy-"

"Hey! You know what, we don't need to watch this part!" Envy snatched the remote from Wrath's hands and clicked fast-forward. Ed took the remote from Envy's hands and clicked the power off.

"Basically, Otouto, we're inside a video game that could determine the fate of the world," he looked around, "uh, I think. Either way it's dangerous."

"Ah, but the real question is, is it dangerous to be here, or dangerous to _not_ be here?"

Ed cast Envy a weird look, "What are you, Shakespeare? What the hell kinda question is that?"

"A good one," answered Nata, deep in thought, "it's just as dangerous being an innocent bystander caught in a blast as it is being a player. Not to mention those innocent bystanders could just as easily decide to attack us and cause their real selves more danger."

There was an uneasy silence before Wrath whined, "I don't like this game anymore, Nii-chan."

"Neither do I, but can we just stop playing? I mean, what would happen to..." Envy trailed off, giving an indication toward Nata. The latter shook his head sadly.

"No, you can't just stop once it's started, that's the same as losing. I could try to hold them off, but I'd be captured eventually..."

Ed clasped his hands behind his head, "So it's one of those 'do or die' scenarios, eh? I'm not sure what other dangers there are, but we're smart, right? With the five of us, there's nothing we can't solve!" He gave a grin to display his confidence.

"And here you were crying a minute ago."

"Shut up!"

_aeaeae_

"How many bosses do we have to beat before we're done, anyway? How do we know when we're done?"

The other four focused their attention on Alphonse- who'd just spoken- then to Nata, being the only one who would know the answer to that. It was a few hours after Al'd first joined them and it was already dark in the game world. They'd built a fire to circle around, after deciding to pull an all-nighter to keep watch over Nata, even though the NPC insisted he would be fine over night and they needed their rest. But of course no one ever listens to reason.

"I'm not sure, actually, how many bosses...Kaito only had two and he's the only one that's ever beaten it before (**2**)..."

"Well then shouldn't we be done?" Ed asked, frowning, "I know we didn't kill the second boss, but you said that wasn't necessary!" During his little panicked hissy he motioned towards a body lying in the grass a ways away, tied up and gagged but not doing much to struggle.

Al sweatdropped and murmured, "Poor uncle Roy..."

"But- let's rewind back to Al's earlier question," Envy said, quickly giving Wrath a 'don't-you-DARE-start-pulling-out-video-tapes-'cause-you-know-that's-not-what-I-meant' kind of glare before continuing, "the one about how we know when it's over."

Nata thought, "Well, from my experience with Kaito, when it's over there should be..." he paused and furrowed his brow as if straining to remember. "There should be..."

_...I've wanted to meet you...'Gate'..._

"...a bright light..."

_...Who are you?_

_Not 'who'...but 'what'..._

"...the ground crumbling..."

_NO! NATA!_

Suddenly feeling dizzy, he finished, whispering a single word, "...Kaito..."

The others called out to him, but the worried cries went unheard as he hit the ground.

_aeaeae_

**1** - What? Kaito fell from the sky in volume one.

**2** - Remember I'm going only by the first volume! Nata said the protection was the final boss and counting Rush that's only two! And I know Nata said "No one's ever given me a name before..." implying that there'd been others, but I don't know them and I writing this so therefore Kaito's the only one to have beaten Gamerz Heaven and that's that!

**A/N:** Waaaaa update update naaaaa...this is killing me! I know that loyal fans (if I have any) don't like excuses like "horrible writers block!" or "I had no internet!" or even the newest "my dad finally got internet but now his new computer has no floppy drive!" but aren't you just glad that I was so BORED OUT OF MY MIND that I forced myself to write more and then hitch-hike the twenty or so miles to the nearest computer- that is, with internet and floppy drive. Yeah I thought so. I see you're all so very enthusiastic. Especially since no one actually reads this story. Do you notice it has no reviews? Oh wait, there's one, but that's someone I know personally and I told her to go write that. How very depressing.


	4. ch4

Nata blinked against the bright afternoon sun. So bright it was nearly blinding. Why was that so? He ignored that thought and sought more important answers. Like, where was he? Or how did he get there?

Eyes finally adjusting to the light, the small boy found that he was lying in a grassy field. Now why was this familiar? He got to his feet and started walking in any random direction, for no reason at all really. Perhaps it was because he was curious for clues about this place. He knew he'd seen this all before; it was on the tip of his tongue, darn it!

As Nata pushed his way through the tall grasses, he noticed an old wooden two-story house. He felt like he'd been in there before too. It stirred something in his mind...a word..._envy? That's a strange word to come to mind, staring at an old decrepit cabin..._

As a matter of fact, it didn't seem near as interesting as those buildings beyond that hill...

"...that..." he managed to choke out, though he didn't know what about them that had coaxed him to speak. Not to mention his voice was hoarse as if he'd been screaming for a long time. That too was a mystery.

Shrugging off this hindrance as well, he started to make his way faster towards the buildings that were indeed much more familiar; he felt as if they were calling out to him. He broke out into a full-fledged run, up over the hill and then down it, the grasses ending and meeting with hard cement. All of a sudden the buildings didn't look so welcoming. Actually, they seemed to be broken. _Wait, broken?_ That triggered another feeling in his memory- fear. He didn't know why, but he didn't like what he was seeing. Something bad had, or was about to, happen.

Closer he moved, there was more added to the debris. _Oh God, were those-?_

Bodies lay amongst the rubble, some not in as bad a shape, others so entirely mutilated their faces were unrecognizable. Nata walked though them slowly with a hand covering his face. He did not want to see this...but why were his feet insisting on moving, forcing him to continue on? What was drawing him into such a place of depression? His heart began to grow heavy with dread as it became apparent his feet were bringing him to a particular body. He even started to feel panic; the body of someone he knew? The feeling of fear was close to overwhelming, he wanted to turn back but could not find the strength to do so. As he got nearer...

_This feeling..._

...and the features became clearer...

_That face..._

...sharper...

_A name..._

"...Kaito..."

"_KAITO_!"

_aeaeae_

Nata bolted up into a sitting position, covered in sweat and panting heavily. It took him a few seconds to register that it was dark out, and he was lying a few feet from a campfire with someone's coat acting as a blanket.

"Nata, are you okay?" a voice asked. He couldn't tell whose it was, but he found himself surrounded by four other boys. In the dim light he could make out the similar looks of worry on their faces.

That's right...he was with these guys now...

"I think you just had a nightmare is all," another voice added.

_A nightmare?_ He couldn't tell if it was the same voice or a different one, he was so out of it. That or it could be the added effect of the fire dying out while they were fussing over him. It was near impossible to tell who was who now in the growing darkness.

"You had us all really worried about you, you just up and collapsed like that."

_Collapsed?_

One face got closer and tried to push him back down, "Maybe you should just rest some more."

Whoever it was turned his attention to the others this time. The profile silhouette had neat long hair, he recognized this shadow to be Envy.

_...a word...envy..._

"Hey why don't we move into the house? There's no one else in there, right? It'd be a little safer for us all to get some sleep, and somewhat comfy too." Another shadow nodded and moved closer, perhaps trying to lift him. As he leaned over, a braid fell over his shoulder. Edward?

_Wait...house...?_

"This way, c'mon!" The two other silhouettes ran ahead, which had to be the younger brothers. They ran up to a wooden house across the field and waved their arms excitedly.

Nata rubbed at his eye with a tiny gloved fist, trying to make his vision adjust to the dark. Getting closer to the house he froze in his movements and stared at it. _Envy's house...but that's not the only place I've seen it before, is it?_

Suddenly a rush of images flooded his mind; _bright light...grassy field...old wooden house...broken down city...bodies...Kaito..._

"Kaito...Kaito...!" Nata cried into Ed's shirt, latched onto him tightly. Ed was taken aback by this sudden change but was quick to comfort, "Nata, what's wrong?"

He gained the attention of the others as well who now swarmed around him, but he was oblivious to it.

"Kaito...!"

There were so many voices, so many...and Nata thought he heard the voices of the four players he traveled with now, thought he felt the arms he was in, but the world was spinning around him and there were so many voices screaming in his ears. His body felt paralyzed and he squeezed his eyes shut tight as if that action alone would drown out the noise.

_He is not the one who can kill me. Live, and come back for me..._

"...Ka..."

_What we want isn't you...it's what's inside you..._

_It's guarded...but SHE can break it. You'll be erased..._

"...i..."

_-will not allow you to access...Gamerz Heaven. Fools!_

_I'm a hero! I'm going to save the world! I'm going to_ _save **Nata**!_

"...TO!"

_aeaeae_

"D...did you hear that?"

"Well of course I did, that had to've been the biggest lightning bolt to ever hit Japan! ...though lightning itself doesn't make noise. Hm..." The girl flicked her wet bangs out of her face and pushed up her glasses, while re-adjusting the small umbrella she held to shield them both from the heavy downpour.

"No, that's not what I meant...that scream...like someone was calling me. You didn't hear it?"

"Suzuki..." She put a hand on her best friend's shoulder but he pulled away roughly, "I'm not imagining things, Kawashima! It was Nata's voice...he's-"

Kyoko punched him in the face; not as hard as she used to but still effective enough to cut him off, "You're just reminded of these things because we came to visit Ren and Rio's graves today. We both miss Nata a lot, but...I have to agree with your mom. Maybe you _should_ stop gaming. It's starting to mess with your mind..."

Kaito gaped at her, "I can't believe I'm hearing this, Kawashima, from YOU of all people! You love gaming just as much as I do! You know how important it is to me!"

"Yeah, but-"

"No! I won't stop! Gaming is my life! And I'm not going crazy, I know I heard him!"

Kaito took off running out of the graveyard and down the street, not caring that he was soaked to the bone already. He didn't care if _everyone else_ thought he was insane. He didn't care what they thought, they didn't know the truth. But now even Kawashima, his best friend in the whole world and the _only_ one who knew what he really went through, was starting to doubt him! He refused to shed tears though it tore him up inside.

Kaito ran all the way home, burst through the front door and up the stairs, past his mother who worriedly called after him. He slammed him bedroom door shut and locked it, then fell against it and slid down to the floor. _Maybe I _am_ going crazy..._

He glanced over to his PlayStation and stack of games. _But I need to be sure. I'll find Gamerz Heaven again if it's the last thing I do!_

_aeaeae_

"Does he always pass out like that?" Wrath asked. That was the question in all their minds, but Envy shook his head, "I don't think it's normal. I'm starting to worry about him...video game characters can die, right?"

Ed was unconvinced, "Anything's possible here."

"But what was that light?" Al asked, "It looked like he summoned a lightning bolt when he screamed."

"Like I said, nothing we see here can be considered absolutely impossible. He probably did summon a lightning bolt. Do you think its part of his powers that everyone's after?"

"I thought his powers were some sort of teleportation thing," Wrath answered, "It said something like that on the tape." As if to prove his point, he held up said tape.

Envy lunged at him with an enraged cry, "STOP WITH THE GODDAMN VIDEO TAPE!"

They struggled over it for a while, rolling around on the floor.

"Gimme it!"

"No it's mine!"

The blonde brothers just sighed and went back to tending to Nata. The poor NPC had gone unconscious for the second time that night. He'd screamed something fierce out of the blue, and then a bolt of lightning shot up right next to them, disappearing into the clear night sky. Ed rubbed at his eyes and rummaged around in his pockets for a watch. He pulled out a silver pocket-watch that he had gotten from his uncle- _old-fashioned bastard_- and flipped it open. Almost morning.

He slumped against the couch where Nata rested (too lazy to carry him upstairs) while trying to stifle a yawn. Damn. With everything going on the night before, none of the group had gotten any sleep. He was so bloody tired he could just...uh...well he couldn't think coherent enough to make up something right now. He just laid in that position for a while longer slowly nodding off, Al already asleep curled up at his side, when Envy approached him- or maybe it was Nata, he couldn't tell which- obviously done quarreling with Wrath. He kneeled closer to Ed and told him, "Something's up with Nata. I think we should try to find this Kaito person and ask him what he thinks...before something BAD happens."

Ed blinked, forcing himself awake, "Define 'bad'. What do you think could happen?"

Envy shook his head, "I don't know. I just have a feeling that, whatever it is...we won't be able to help."

_aeaeae_

**A/N:** BWAHA. I might just make this longer than I originally planned. Sorry if this chapter seemed a little too Nata-centric, or even Kaito-centric if you look at it that way. Just trying to lead up to the end.


End file.
